This week momentum has been building around Google’s reported plans to introduce its own ad-blocking feature, in both the mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. At first glance, the feature seems counter-intuitive, since Google’s annual online ad revenue exceeded $60 billion, yet it is clearly a defensive move. The focus is on the improvement of user experience and ultimately the reduction in fast growing third party ad blocking software. Elsewhere, at Facebook’s F8 conference, augmented reality continues to gain prominence, as they launched their strategy and intent for developing the Metaverse.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As ever, please tag and share anything you spot with #OMDFWD.
This week momentum has been building around Google’s reported plans to introduce its own ad-blocking feature, in both the mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. At first glance, the feature seems counter-intuitive, since Google’s annual online ad revenue exceeded $60 billion, yet it is clearly a defensive move. The focus is on the improvement of user experience and ultimately the reduction in fast growing third party ad blocking software. Elsewhere, at Facebook’s F8 conference, augmented reality continues to gain prominence, as they launched their strategy and intent for developing the Metaverse.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
As ever, please tag and share anything you spot with #OMDFWD.
Welcome to the CES 2017 OMD FWD special. As the dust settles on the Mojave Desert, there’s a quiet acknowledgement of Amazon’s Alexa triumph as the most widely integrated technology. But it’s still early days in voice technology, with little platform loyalty and leadership positions yet to be cemented. We expect 2017 to be an incredibly exciting year for voice AI. Bloomberg reports that the potential is huge as the technology is exponential, with voice AI reaching 40 million homes by 2021.
Elsewhere mobile devices explored 3D cameras, smart home technology merged with mobility, cars got smarter and televisions became thinner. With so much coverage of CES, explore our round-up of the most interesting news articles.
HEADLINES
- In the final tally of the show, Amazon Alexa reigns as the ‘Grand Winner’, and they didn’t even have a booth. Quartz summarises the best in show
- One of the biggest brand stories was from Mattel who launched a kid-focused Echo alternative which is due to launch June 2017. Our children will use these technologies from a very early age as more competitors come into the market
INSIGHTS
COOL
- Robots were everywhere and here are 4 robots you might want in your home. Our money is going to Kuri
- HTC wants to drive the VR revolution by introducing a subscription service: ‘The Netflix for VR’
- A digital sole which learns your running patterns and adapts to support you during terrain changes, or if you began to pronate due to tightness of muscles
- A mechanisation of a human being came in the form of the exo skeleton which has the promise to give mobility to the disabled.
- For a full run down on the coolest gadgets in the show, read our round-up here
DEEP READS
As ever, please read, learn and share away, #OMDFWD
Well, as predicted in my pre-CES piece, the main areas of interest were automotive, robots and VR, although my confident prognostication that ’embeddables’ was going to be the breakout technology for 2017 proved to be a tad off the mark. Actually I was way off. But you can expect me to reuse the same prediction every year until it finally happens…
Anyway, swiftly moving on, let’s take a closer look at how the more successful predictions came to fruition.
AUTOMOTIVE ACCELERATED
Your car is now the largest connected piece of technology that you can own. And every single one of the manufacturers displaying their wares focused on the progress they have made in connecting your vehicle to other devices.
The major innovation for 2017 was the use of voice activation. Both Ford and VW announced their respective collaborations with Amazon ‘Alexa’ whilst Nissan talked about their association with Microsoft ‘Cortana’. Talk to your car and it will politely talk back, whilst simultaneously acting upon your every whim at home – switch on your lights, adjust the central heating or even check what’s in your fridge (assuming you have the right connected appliances of course).
Alternatively, talk to Alexa at home and control various functions of your car, like turning on the air conditioning or checking how much fuel you have left.
And talking of Nissan, I watched the keynote speech by Renault-Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, at the Westgate Pavilion, where he stated that there will be more change in the automotive sector in the next 10 years than there was in the last 50 years.
He confidently predicted that by 2030 a quarter of all vehicles on the road will be autonomous (and added that this was a “conservative estimate”). He also talked about their alliance with NASA on developing the revolutionary Seamless Autonomous Mobility (SAM) system. What problem does it solve? Well autonomous systems follow strict road rules (such as, your car can never cross solid road lines) so SAM uses a human interface to offer ‘real time’ solutions to complex ‘real world’ problems that even sophisticated algorithms can’t figure out.
Elsewhere we saw China’s answer to Tesla, Faraday Future, launch its vision of an electric production car (as opposed to the outlandish FFZero1 hypercar concept which it revealed at last year’s CES).
The unimaginatively entitled FF91 is fully electric, autonomous and has very cool motorised doors. There are no firm details on when it will be launched or the price but you can put down a $5,000 deposit to get yourself on the list. However, given some of the negative stories circulating about the financial viability of Faraday I won’t be one of them.
TV WENT ON A DIET
Can you imagine a TV as thin as a credit card? Well, LG can. And it did: the new LG Signature 4K OLED W series. The W stands for wallpaper and refers to the TV’s new “picture-on-wall” design. Its dual system has the main display underpinned by a Dolby Atmos Soundbar. That very same Soundbar also houses the TV’s primary guts, HDMI inputs and so forth. But it’s that screen which is the key feature coming in at a mere 2.57 millimeters thick.
VR WENT FROM INTERACTIVE TO IMMERSIVE
Samsung finally demonstrated how far VR has come since the Oculus Rift took CES by storm just a few short years ago. Their five-arena immersive oasis was simply stupendous and one of the real highlights of this year’s show. Want to take a bobsleigh ride, fly shotgun on a stunt plane, throw buildings at a rival robot or even go on a Star Wars X-Fighter mission? No problem, Samsung Gear offered the opportunity to experience them all, and provide a genuine taster as to what immersive entertainment will become over the next few years.
ROBOTS GOT WEIRD
Smart home assistants, such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home, became an unexpected Christmas 2016 consumer hit. But given the new kit we saw on display at CES this week, it will make these simple voice activated units obsolete rather swiftly.
Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics demonstrated its Sophia Bot late in 2016 and, although it was a huge leap forward in the development of animated expressions/emotional intelligence, it still looked somewhat creepy. Or is it just me?
At CES it showcased the latest version of the same technology, which took strange to a whole new level. Professor Einstein is a 14.5″ Wi-Fi-connected robot which is designed along the lines of Amazon Alexa, albeit with a very different outward appearance…
RANDOM STUFF THAT NO-ONE EXPECTED
This is the Kickstarter style, off-the-wall, oddball tech that nobody could have predicted apart from the crazy people who invented it. And as usual, there was plenty on display.
For starters, what about the Kolibree? It is the world’s first toothbrush with Artificial Intelligence. With the associated app you can gamify your brushing experience (seriously, you cannot make this stuff up) to ensure you clean your teeth properly.
Not convinced? Me neither. So next up, we have VR shoes from Taclim. The footwear literally allows you to walk in the shoes of your virtual heroes and can simulate a variety of terrains (from sand to snow). They look a bit like Croc sandals so even though the enhanced gameplay might be cool, you certainly won’t look chic whilst wearing them.
Talking of cool, what about a levitating speaker system? Well thanks to the Crazybaby Mars you can have your mind officially blown. It looks a bit like an Amazon Alexa, replete with funky blue lights (naturally) and a free floating dome. It’s also not just a gimmick as the sound quality is incredible. Until I saw and heard it, I had no idea that I needed one in my life.
So there you have it, another tech fest over for another year. Did CES 2017 live up to expectation? Whoa, did it ever. Leaving Las Vegas. And out.
This article was originally posted at M&M Global – http://mandmglobal.com/2-4-million-square-foot-of-whoa-ces-2017-reviewed/
Over 28 million people have committed Netflix infidelity by watching a TV episode without their partner, with 12% of “cheaters” then admitting to re-watching the show with their other half pretending it’s the first time they have seen it. So to help couples stay faithful, ice cream brand Cornetto has come up with the perfect solution. Coined the Commitment Rings, couples can register the NFC-connected rings via the app, log in and watch their favourite series, but only when the rings are together, putting an end to what Cornetto has called the “worst type of cheating”. Cornetto is currently negotiating with streaming apps, including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime TV, with a view to launch the rings in the near future. While this sounds a truly brilliant insight-led idea, we do wonder if this will become more than a PR stunt and be used on a day to day basis by consumers. As always, share anything interesting you spot with #OMDFWD
HEADLINES
- With DeepText Facebook will be able to ‘instantly’ understand every post and every message, and react accordingly.
- Instagram officially launches new tools, confirming much of what had been rumoured previously, including new business profiles and analytics. Recode have not been alone in commenting how the Instagram business model is looking more and more like the mother ship, Facebook.
- Google AMP is getting mixed reviews from publishers.
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
Getting someone to put down the remote control (or smartphone) and pay attention to TV adverts is harder than ever. In the digital age, viewers have limited attention spans, more distractions and countless ways to skip ads. A recent study has found that only 35% of the average paid TV break is actively viewed, instead 19% of people are channel surfing, 18% are looking at other devices and 13% are distracted by food, pets and the TV guide. As always, share what you find interesting with #OMDFWD
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
And finally….First there was Snapchat…prepare yourself for Rapchat…
Deliveroo unveiled telepathic food ordering, Honda introduced emoji registration plates, Carlsberg moved into gourmet burgers with The Carlsburger and Virgin Trains offered a 25% discount to customers who were willing to shovel coal. With brands vying for headlines this April’s Fools day, a time when brands are rewarded for being deceptive, impractical and hopefully funny, the million dollar question is, were you fooled? As ever, share anything interesting you spot with #OMDFWD
Headlines
- Hot off the press, Twitter has won the rights to stream live NFL Thursday night games
- It was a poor year for April Fools, but here are the best and worst including this news grabbing one from Google
- Speaking of Google, you can now search for animal sounds and have the results delivered in audio
Insights
Cool
Deep reads
